This is as good a class as I have seen come through tOSU. Excellent. With Jacobs now out and EZE in, I struggle to find the guy that I think is a reach in the class. Jacobs probably would have been that guy, but he had a lot of upside too.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Good Thread here guys with lots of excellent info from many angles. Love what Urb did going hardcore on Defense. Excited about our DB's and Mike Mitchell!

UT football has turned into a joke, and most certainly looks like TX A&M will be the alpha male in state for a long time.

I hate to talk SEC on here but, How the hell did Ole Miss come out of nowwhere and land Robert Nkemdiche and several other big name guys today and jump from mid-teens to Top 5 RC overall? Anybody else think the NCAA will come investigate (which is something I think they do a terrible job of anyway, so it probably won't matter much...)

"Cocaine is a hell of a drug" - Originated from a famous skit in Dave Chappelle's "Chappelle's Show". The skit would portray Rick James, usually high on cocaine, preforming doing crazy and stupid things, such as smacking Charlie Murphy in the face. Rick James would frequently explain away his actions by saying "Cocaine is a hell of a drug".

kman_holla8 wrote:UT football has turned into a joke, and most certainly looks like TX A&M will be the alpha male in state for a long time.

I heard some discussion of this today. Damn did Johnny Football save A&M's ass, or what? If that program heads into the SEC resembling what it had been for a decade prior, A&M's upside in that conference is approximately Miss St, with an eternity of playing conference bitch like UK or Vandy not out of the question.

Sure, Texas Recruit thinks it's cooler to go to the SEC than the Big 12, but not if the SEC option is a perennial bottom of the conference finisher.

Perfect storm, though, between Texas' suck & Johnny Football's flash. Though, I assume it still wouldn't be too difficult to flip right back with a big name replacement for Brown. Chip Kelly, maybe?

kman_holla8 wrote:Good Thread here guys with lots of excellent info from many angles. Love what Urb did going hardcore on Defense. Excited about our DB's and Mike Mitchell!

UT football has turned into a joke, and most certainly looks like TX A&M will be the alpha male in state for a long time.

I hate to talk SEC on here but, How the hell did Ole Miss come out of nowwhere and land Robert Nkemdiche and several other big name guys today and jump from mid-teens to Top 5 RC overall? Anybody else think the NCAA will come investigate (which is something I think they do a terrible job of anyway, so it probably won't matter much...)

Ole Miss (and Miss St too, for that matter) have raised a lot of eyebrows with this newfound ability to land elite recruits. But remember, this is the SEC, and they don't self-report. Anyone expecting the NCAA to do any serious sniffing around these programs hasn't been paying attention for the last few years. Besides, if they're paying kids and/or their families, it seems like they've been watching and learning from Auburn and others long enough to have it down to an undetectable art.

I have heard rumblings about NCAA looking into Auburn recently...again (all post-Newton stuff, as I understand it) but who knows what they'll do after they collectively shit down their leg in the Miami fiasco.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

kman_holla8 wrote:I hate to talk SEC on here but, How the hell did Ole Miss come out of nowwhere and land Robert Nkemdiche and several other big name guys today and jump from mid-teens to Top 5 RC overall? Anybody else think the NCAA will come investigate (which is something I think they do a terrible job of anyway, so it probably won't matter much...)

Ole Miss (and Miss St too, for that matter) have raised a lot of eyebrows with this newfound ability to land elite recruits. But remember, this is the SEC, and they don't self-report. Anyone expecting the NCAA to do any serious sniffing around these programs hasn't been paying attention for the last few years. Besides, if they're paying kids and/or their families, it seems like they've been watching and learning from Auburn and others long enough to have it down to an undetectable art.

I'm too lazy to fact-check it, but my personal guess is that Ole Miss is the SEC school with the lowest "Stay Eligibile" academic standards. I could be way off-base, but it seems like that could have something to do with it. Because we all know these kids aren't going to school to learn.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

kman_holla8 wrote:UT football has turned into a joke, and most certainly looks like TX A&M will be the alpha male in state for a long time.

I heard some discussion of this today. Damn did Johnny Football save A&M's ass, or what? If that program heads into the SEC resembling what it had been for a decade prior, A&M's upside in that conference is approximately Miss St, with an eternity of playing conference bitch like UK or Vandy not out of the question.

Sure, Texas Recruit thinks it's cooler to go to the SEC than the Big 12, but not if the SEC option is a perennial bottom of the conference finisher.

Perfect storm, though, between Texas' suck & Johnny Football's flash. Though, I assume it still wouldn't be too difficult to flip right back with a big name replacement for Brown. Chip Kelly, maybe?

Good points, although I would certainly add Kevin Sumlin, in addition to Manziel, as a reason kids are flocking to A&M over UT. The 'Horns are not helped by the fact that they have no offensive identity whatsoever. With Mack Brown hanging around past his sell by date and Major Applewhite as OC (Major Applewhite, really?) Texas is sliding down a very slippery slope.

I don't need to be patient, they're going to be shit forever. - CDT, discussing my favorite NFL team

BN now saying Towsend is expected to sign with Florida despite them not needing a punter for two years. Weird. Seems like the family pulled a late switch on the kid and forced him to stay closer to home.

neoleo wrote:BN now saying Towsend is expected to sign with Florida despite them not needing a punter for two years. Weird. Seems like the family pulled a late switch on the kid and forced him to stay closer to home.

neoleo wrote:BN now saying Towsend is expected to sign with Florida despite them not needing a punter for two years. Weird. Seems like the family pulled a late switch on the kid and forced him to stay closer to home.

Or Bucks landed 3 players yesterday and had no room for a punter.

Well, obviously yeah. Except my previous post was taking into account all of the quotes that are out there saying nothing changed and he still has an offer from OSU (from Meyer and the family).

If something happened late and the family were upset about it (hence causing a last second switch), I doubt they'd be covering for Meyer publicly by saying "nothing's changed with OSU".

I guess it could be possible that the offer was contingent upon OSU having enough room and that it was communicated the whole time, but I don't see how the kid would have stayed so solidly committed the whole time without taking visits knowing there was a chance he'd get left out.

Something's fishy here. Either Meyer pulled the scholly and lied about it to the media AND the family is covering for him, or something else is up.

Meyer never said anything about him having an offer (hell, he's not allowed). He did a video interview with Rivals after the presser and called the punter situation complicated, but that was about it. He also said who knows on constantly hurt Frank E and that we'll have to see in the Spring if Basil is doing both.

e0y2e3 wrote:Meyer never said anything about him having an offer (hell, he's not allowed). He did a video interview with Rivals after the presser and called the punter situation complicated, but that was about it. He also said who knows on constantly hurt Frank E and that we'll have to see in the Spring if Basil is doing both.

I'll see if I can find a printed link, but he was asked directly if they pulled anybody's offer and he said no.

e0y2e3 wrote:Meyer never said anything about him having an offer (hell, he's not allowed). He did a video interview with Rivals after the presser and called the punter situation complicated, but that was about it. He also said who knows on constantly hurt Frank E and that we'll have to see in the Spring if Basil is doing both.

I'll see if I can find a printed link, but he was asked directly if they pulled anybody's offer and he said no.

But even if he didn't say that, why would the family not just come out and say, OSU pulled our offer and we're looking to go somehwere else? Saying, "nothing has changed with OSU" just makes the situation look bad on the family.

e0y2e3 wrote:In the presser, then three words later he said that they had to pull offers due to scholarship limits (it was the same portion where he said they probably pulled some kids offers incorrectly).

And I just told you his exact phrase regarding the punter "complicated."

I have no idea what happened, but Meyer never said anything to make me lean one way or another.

I took those as two different questions. "Did you have to pull anybody's offer today because of the late commitments" to which the answer was no, and "how did you manage the tight numbers in this class during the recruiting process" to which the answer was "we had to pull some offers, some of which we made mistakes on".

Maybe I'm off base. I still contend that the family releasing a pro-OSU statement is enough to lean me towards this being on the family's end and not OSU pulling the offer. Either way, we agree that something strange happened.

neoleo wrote:If something happened late and the family were upset about it (hence causing a last second switch), I doubt they'd be covering for Meyer publicly by saying "nothing's changed with OSU".

I think it's likely that this is exactly what the family was doing...because they still hoped to be eventually included in OSU's class, and didn't want to badmouth Meyer and OSU. They may have been given assurances that something would be worked out...grayshirt or delayed commit after some transfer was announced, or whatever, but in the meantime "make nice". If a better situation has since presented itself, you can't blame the kid for jumping on it. Meyer was just dead set against even the appearance of oversigning on signing day, and losing his punter was the lesser of evils.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

neoleo wrote:If something happened late and the family were upset about it (hence causing a last second switch), I doubt they'd be covering for Meyer publicly by saying "nothing's changed with OSU".

I think it's likely that this is exactly what the family was doing...because they still hoped to be eventually included in OSU's class, and didn't want to badmouth Meyer and OSU. They may have been given assurances that something would be worked out...grayshirt or delayed commit after some transfer was announced, or whatever, but in the meantime "make nice". If a better situation has since presented itself, you can't blame the kid for jumping on it. Meyer was just dead set against even the appearance of oversigning on signing day, and losing his punter was the lesser of evils.

That's fine and all if true, it just makes Meyer playing coy yesterday make no sense. He was adament they were only waiting on one more kid (so what decision was Towsend making this morning?) And that second interview with the Rivals guys was just damn strange.

I'm sure they are still (or, again) looking for a punter. But unless there is an announcement of an early enrollee...or a transfer of a roster player...before it happens, I'm thinking the punter will turn out to be a "preferred walk-on" whose scholarship will be delayed, at least until fall, when some of the roster stuff shakes out (or until he proves he's an upgrade over Epitropolous and Basil).

Just my guess, because as soon as Meyer goes over 82...which the next addition does...the scrutiny on the next kid to leave the program is magnified 10 times. And until it happens, all skeptical eyes of people outside the program are on "who is Meyer going to run off to get down to 82?". I think it's that scrutiny that he wants to avoid...understandably.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

I'm fine with him using "Michigan". I hope he uses them for 15 years. And saying "Michigan" is so much better than the a-hole Michigan coaches referring to OSU as "Ohio".

That's just weak.

Saying Michigan is better than stepping in Michigan.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Read the same thing about tOSU not pulling the kids offer in about three different articles in BN. Doesn't mean its true, but I have no reason to believe it is not. NBD.

Had they gotten Diggs last year Tommy Brown or Chris Carter would've gotten their walking papers. I think Brown still might.

As for Ole' Miss recruiting.... here is a link to Laquon Treadwell holding some cash right after an Ole Miss visit. Was posted on his instagram account (and quickly deleted). Notice his brand new state championship ring. He had posted a picture of that just a few weeks earlier after he got it. Still, I am sure everything is on the Up and Up at Ole' Miss. Given their recent history there, it is not surprising at all that they would land 5ish 5* recruits!

I still cannot believe how amazing tOSU's class is. I would not change a player in it. Normally you look down a class and you can find a bunch of guys you think will not contribute and that is not the case this year. Obviously not all will contribute, that is just not possible, but it is pretty hard to find the guys that won't. I am guessing that guys that will struggle to see the field are: Munger, Lewis and Lee. I like all three players, but as stacked as this class is, I think those guys will struggle to find the field.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

BLUF: sounds like we were not really ever #1 to the kid. We were just the #1 team that offered a committable scholarship. When "better" offers came, he took them. Can't blame the kid. He got presented a pretty great opportunity.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

As most of you have heard, 5-star linebacker and OSU commit Mike Mitchell has a "little" brother...6'7" Mickey Mitchell, who is probably the #1 freshman (2015) basketball prospect in the nation. Here's why:

He doesn't show an outside shot in this video, but you assume he's got one. In any event, the passing and ball-handling skills are off the charts for a kid his age and size. Best news is he's reportedly a bigger Buckeye fan than his brother was....and now with Mike in Columbus, Matta has to be the odds on favorite to land the kid.

Correction(s): Mitchell is a sophomore this year (the 2015 thing was right) and he is rated by at least one service as the #5 player in the class. He is also a year older than many of his classmates...born in Sept. 1995, which means he'll turn 18 at the beginning of his junior year...so the fact that he has been dominating against upperclassmen/varsity kids for two years isn't quite as impressive. Still, the kid's a baller.

"I believe it is the nature of the human species to reject what is true but unpleasant and to embrace what is obviously false but comforting." H.L. Mencken

A grade older or not that kid has some game. My 2015 is 15, 6'4" now, and still only 160 lbs in clothes. He won't turn 18 until right about graduation in May for instance, so given his later start on the development side he won't really fill out until a year or into college (baseball only). This really puts you at a disadvantage at recruiting time because you have to compete against kids who've been filled out for a couple of years.

In Mitchell's case it might allow a few to say the kid is overrated, but he still appears to have pretty advanced skills. The leaping ability and passing skills and court vision scream high level D1.

furls wrote:Well, NLOID is just a couple of weeks away, so it is time to start looking to 2013. Looks like it could be an epic class for tOSU. The Buckeyes look to be in great shape with a lot of ELITE players very early in the game. Here are some of the names to watch out for:

There are a couple of other guys they are actively pursuing (Ty Isaac), but I don't feel as good about them as I do about the guys listed above. I would not be surprised to see the Bucks get 80-90% of the guys listed above.

e0y2e3 wrote:PSU just grabbed a 4 star QB with offers from the entire SEC. Looks like Coach BoB is going to be okay in the recruiting department. And considering that the Miami NCAA findings aren't even coming out until later this year we can expect the NCAA PSU findings sometime in 2014.

Also, I don't really care about missing on him if we do, we still should land two STUD TEs this year and have the Josh Perry variable.

UPDATE: The NCAA killed PSU and then had to fire EVERYONE involved in investigating Miami. WAR: bureaucracy

pup wrote:The rivalry didn't tilt scUM's way back in the day because they were getting Ohio kids. It tilted because Coop was brutal on Saturday's. In fact, there probably is not a stretch in memory where the talent gap was wider, in favor of tOSU.

And we didn't tilt it back our way because we got Ohio kids. It was because of how Tress treated it 24/7/365. In those years, slowly but surely the talent gap was heading towards scUM.

Now, I am thinking we could be in line for the best of both worlds. More talent than Tress, more understanding than Coop.

In rereading this thread and considering what happened in the last year, this is easily the best post of the thread.

Malik Zaire (4* QB): Can't call him a lean, but we are definitely in early. I do wish Zaire was in this class. Not necessarily at the cost of Barrett, but the two do have similar ceilings and floors.

Jake Butt (4* DE/OL): Buckeye Lean. No interest from Meyer, he wants guys like Baugh, not Vannett or Huerman. Definitely a Tressel recruit.

Robert Foster (5* WR): Awesome PA WR recruit, not a lean, but we are in early. Still convinced he would have been in this class if not for his grades and attitude.

Caleb Day (4* DB): Hilliard OH recruit, 30 miles from campus, gotta like the hometeam. See Robert Foster (and much better players that the Bucks landed.

Michael McCray (4* OLB): Legacy recruit. Would have been in under Tressel or Fickell. Meyer is not going to recruit guys that as ordinary as McCray.

Tim Kimbrough (4/5* OLB): Buckeyes are in early, gotta think they gotta shot. Staff wanted more speed. Kimbrough was practically begging for an offer through the spring and summer.

Jaylon Smith (5* OLB): Hopefully things go well for his brother Rod, could be a huge leg up. Smith was just never that interested and its a shame because I think he is probably the #1 overall recruit in this class. He is just unreal. Dominated every camp he was at, dominated the all star game practices and game. Like I said, I think he is the best overall recruit this year and I think he starts at ND next year.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

Funny, under Tressel we would have been thrilled with landing all those guys because we wouldn't have seriously considered guys like Bell, Mitchell, Trey Johnson, Dontre Wilson etc. from out of the traditional B1G footprint.

Don't get me wrong, Tressel recruited outside of the state, but Tressel thought that every recruit from OH was his to lose. Meyer thinks any player in America is his to lose.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.

furls wrote:The best thing about getting Barrett is that he was legitimately Meyer's first choice. Recruiting rankings are neat and so are stars because they quantify the unquantifiable, but you can tell a lot about a kid by where he lies on the board. Barrett may not be #1 on all services (he is on the one I favor, 247), but he was #1 to Urban Meyer. Meyer sees him as the perfect match for his offense (like Miller). I love Barrett's film, he just ruined Cardale Jones' life.

I really liked Jones and I thought he would be a solid replacement for Miller although he is a very different player. Now that the Buckeyes have landed Miller's clone (who probably has a higher ceiling than Jones) I think Jones is the odd man out. Too bad for the kid. He held out for the OSU offer then went to prep school to earn it. I was rooting for him.

Again, I am by no means trying to be a killjoy but r u sure that this kid (Barrett) is 100% committed? I will guarantee LSU hounds this kid for another 9 months. The verbal is a great start, but it's not really worth the paper upon which it's not printed or signed.

I know I am the world's greatest (or worst) cynic, and I am not trying to take a crap on anyone's parade, but I just can't get wood over 17 year olds who verbally commit before they have taken a single snap of their senior year in HS.

I just really wanted the 1000th post on this thread. So this is a completely frivolous post.

Coming from a Wolverine, we're the football equivalent of a formerly abused wife of a meth addict who just remarried the safe nice guy. We're just glad we have someone who's aware that it's a rivalry and that tackling on defense is integral. Baby steps.